SUBIC BAY FREEPORT - Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction-Philippines (HHIC-Phil), a South Korean shipbuilder based in Subic Bay, has donated 2,041 sacks of rice for the victims of typhoon "Yolanda" in the Visayas region.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman Roberto Garcia said the rice donation, with an estimated value of P4 million, was transported by Hanjin to Pasay City where it was formally turned over to representatives of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Last Monday, Garcia formally launched a campaign to gather donations from Subic Bay-registered companies and their employees for typhoon victims in Tacloban and other areas devastated by Yolanda.

First to heed the call was the SBMA Fire and Rescue Team, which donated P10,000 of the cash award they recently received for winning the 2013 Kalasag Awards in the national level for urban search and rescue.

"Hanjin has responded to our call for donations to help our government in the relief efforts. Other locators here are also having their own way of collecting goods that they may send to the typhoon victims," Garcia said.

Meanwhile, HHIC-Phil managing director Joong Gyu Kim, on behalf of his company, commiserated with the Filipino people in the wake of the typhoon which killed thousands in the Visayas.

"We express our deepest sympathy to those affected by this great human tragedy," Kim said in a statement.

"We join hands with the Filipino nation in this hour of need to at least ease the suffering of the people hit by such disasters of immeasurable proportions," Kim added.

As a business locator here, HHIC-Philippines has been actively pursuing corporate social responsibility projects and initiatives which focus on the improvement of public infrastructure, education, health, disaster response, employee welfare, and human resource development.

On November 5, HHIC-Phils received a Certificate of Recognition and Plaque of Excellence from the Philippine Board of Investments (BoI) for its outstanding efforts in implementing various CSR programs in local communities. (30)

HHIC-Phil managing director Joong Gyu Kim (right) turns over the company's P4-million rice donation for victims of Typhoon Yolanda to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.